AMA Fights Back
Wow, here is another surprise. This was sent to me by a reader recently:
Doug, please read the attached article about the AMA getting some cahones about this MOC crap that has been forced down our throats. I loved the part about the lawsuit from the doc who refused to participate (like me). Let’s hope that will knock some sense into them. Do lawyers have to do this torture? I love you, Doug, you have saved my life many times when I get down about the system. Keep up the good fight. We are behind you 100%
First, I really do appreciate the feedback. I get paid nothing for this, which is okay because it is therapy for me. It is also my passion to point out all the bullshit going on in healthcare. I do feel I help other doctors as well as enlighten patients but getting a pat on the back is nice. Thanks. Keep’em coming! 🙂
Now to the article. “Members of the AMA’s House of Delegates approved a spate of resolutions aimed squarely at the American Board of Medical Specialties’ (ABMS) controversial Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Additionally, delegates approved the commissioning of a study that will evaluate the impact of MOC and Maintenance of Licensure (MOL) requirements on physicians.”
What the public doesn’t know is that doctors can’t really work without being board certified so we go through approved residencies and then take the huge test. Great. Over, right? No. We also do 50 hours of CME or education every year! That’s it, right? No. We now have to take another huge certification exam every ten years! Why? No one knows other than to fill the coffers of the ABMS. The AMA as well as the AAPS are going after them because “doctors generally feel such recertification programs are burdensome, costly, and have little known positive impact on patient outcomes.” Here is some more controversy. The Federation of State Medical Boards wants in on the act (and more money) so they support a MOL or Maintenance of Licensure program that would require physicians to demonstrate knowledge in order to renew their state licenses. Can you smell another test or hurdle coming from your state board? I can. This is all about money, people. It is simple extortion. Insurance companies won’t pay us without an updated certification. Employers won’t hire us either.
As a shot back, the AMA House of Delegates adopted these resolutions:
- Opposition to mandatory specialty board recertification programs and discrimination by hospitals and other entities against physicians who don’t recertify
- Support of lifelong continuing medical education and lifelong specialty board certification
- A call for increased transparency by the ABMS and its component specialty boards through published reports on revenue, expenses, and compensation of board members and senior staff
- A request that the AMA work with ABMS and component boards to integrate existing data-reporting programs with certain recertification programs
It’s a start but it really has no bite. The AMA is showing some balls……but they are very, very tiny.
